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44, 6.61]; P= .02, OR 3.04, 95% CI [1.20, 7.68]). Diplomate-led board-preparation lectures resulted in higher pass rates than resident-led (P= .007, OR 10.67, 95% CI [1.75, 64.91]). Using a mixed effect logistic model, predicted pass rates were highest with both lack of on-call duty and presence of didactic lectures (predicted pass rate 95%, 95% CI [0.87, 0.98]).

To optimize pass rates, RTP should provide study time without on-call duty. Provision of didactic lectures and specific board-preparation lectures by diplomates assist in candidate preparation.

To optimize pass rates, RTP should provide study time without on-call duty. Provision of didactic lectures and specific board-preparation lectures by diplomates assist in candidate preparation.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes a substantial disease burden among children, elderly and immunocompromised adults. Recognition of patient involvement in research is gradually increasing. Most research is being carried out without active patient involvement other than patients participating as study subjects, and most knowledge gained through research only partially reaches the general public. Since 2016, the RSV Patient Advisory Board has officially been involved as an advisory group in the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Consortium in Europe (RESCEU). What started as a small single-center initiative, is now growing towards an international organization providing patient perspectives as inputs to scientists, and improving awareness of RSV. This article summarizes the history, current role, and future aims of the RSV Patient Advisory Board as an advocate to improve patient involvement in research. RSV patients and their representatives are important stakeholders in setting the global research agenda, and educating patients, professionals, and the general public.OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSSince cobots (collaborative robots) are increasingly being introduced in industrial environments, being aware of their potential positive and negative impacts on human collaborators is essential. This study guides occupational health workers by identifying the potential gains (reduced perceived time demand, number of gestures and number of errors) and concerns (the cobot takes a long time to perceive its environment, which leads to an increased completion time) associated with working with cobots. In our study, the collaboration between human and cobot during an assembly task did not negatively impact perceived cognitive load, increased completion time (but decreased perceived time demand), and decreased the number of gestures performed by participants and the number of errors made. Thus, performing the task in collaboration with a cobot improved the user's experience and performance, except for completion time, which increased. This study opens avenues to investigate how to improve cobots to ensure the usability of the human-machine system at work.Aim Allograft rejection remains a major cause of graft failure in kidney transplantation. Here the authors report the validation of a non-invasive molecular diagnostic assay, AlloMap Kidney, using peripheral blood. Methods The AlloMap Kidney test is a gene expression profile utilizing the RNA-seq platform to measure immune quiescence in kidney transplant patients. Results/Conclusions Analytical validation showed robust performance characteristics with an accuracy correlation coefficient of 0.997 and a precision coefficient of variation of 0.049 across testing. Clinical validation from the prospective, multi-center studies of 235 samples (66 rejection and 169 quiescence specimens) demonstrated the sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 66% for allograft rejection, while the negative predictive value was 95% to discriminate rejection from quiescence at 10% prevalence of rejection.This research presents the findings of a comparative study of mathematical competence among 130 students (M = 54.08 months; SD = 2.57) from vulnerable school contexts in Chile and the Spanish public school system. The study analyses a set of general and specific domain precursors for which evidence of socioeconomic background exists. Using multivariate regression and discriminant analysis techniques, we calculated similarities and differences between groups by comparing these precursors. Significant differences were found between the Spanish and Chilean groups (p less then .05); however, no differences were observed in non-symbolic comparison and receptive vocabulary. Possible reasons for the existence and extent of these differences are discussed in terms of socio-cultural and educational contexts.Endothelial dysfunction is an initial and essential step in vascular-remodeling diseases, including atherosclerosis and neointima formation. During vascular remodeling, activated endothelial cells can release pro-inflammatory factors that promote phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to the proliferative phenotype. We previously reported that MEK1/2 inhibitor, U0126, has a protective effect on the development of atherosclerosis and vascular calcification. However, the effect of MEK1/2 inhibitors on neointimal formation and the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. We determined that MEK1/2 inhibitor reduced carotid artery ligation-induced neointimal formation, while increased collagen and elastin levels and vascular integrality. Mechanistically, MEK1/2 inhibitor or ERK1/2 siRNA increased miR-126-3p level in endothelial cells, thereby inhibiting expression of regular of G-protein signaling 16 (RGS16), a miR-126-3p target gene, to activate the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12)/C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) signaling pathway. Accordingly, miR-126-3p was also increased by U0126 in serum and carotid artery. RGS16 was inhibited while CXCR4 and CXCL12 was increased by U0126 in neointimal areas, especially in the endothelium. Moreover, similar results were observed in atherosclerotic plaques of high-fat diet-fed apolipoprotein E deficiency (apoE-/-) mice. In addition, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), another miR-126-3p target gene, was reduced by U0126 in the neointimal areas, resulting reduced monocytes/macrophages accumulation. Taken together, our results indicate that MEK1/2 inhibitor can reduce neointima formation by activating endothelial miR-126-3p production to facilitate endothelium repair while reduce monocyte adhesion/infiltration.

After radical resection of a nonmetastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (M0 MCC), postoperative radiation therapy (RT) is recommended as it improves survival. However, the role of RT in specific subgroups of M0 MCC is unclear. We sought to identify whether there is a differential survival benefit from RT in specific M0 MCC patient subgroups.

M0 MCC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database registry were collected. The best prognostic age, tumor size, and lymph node ratio (LNR, ratio between positive lymph nodes and resected lymph nodes) cutoffs were calculated. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).

A total of 5644 M0 MCC patients (median age 77 years, 62% male) were included 4022 (71%) node-negative (N0) and 1551 (28%) node-positive (N+). Overall,2682 patients (48%) received RT. Age > 76.5 years, tumor size >13.5 mm, and LNR >0.215 were associated with worse OS. RT was associated with longer OS in the M0 MCC, N0, and N+ group and independently associated with a 25%, 27%, and 26% reduction in the risk for death, respectively. RT benefit on survival was increased in tumor size >13.5 mm in the N0 group and LNR >0.215 in the N+ group. No OS benefit from RT was observed in T4 tumors (N0 and N+ groups).

RT was associated with improved survival in M0 MCC, irrespective of the nodal status. LNR >0.215 is a useful prognostic factor for clinical decision-making and for stratification and interpretation of clinical trials.

0.215 is a useful prognostic factor for clinical decision-making and for stratification and interpretation of clinical trials.As a malignant tumor, HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) is featured by a high recurrence rate with a poor prognosis. Increasing evidence supports an important role of lincRNAs in HCC. Here, the purpose of the study was to explore the function of LINC00978 (long non-coding RNA00978) in HCC and the underlying mechanisms. LINC00978 expression and its association with the progression of HCC were analyzed using HCC TCGA datasets. LINC00978 expression in tissues was measured using real-time PCR. UMI-77 research buy Then, we knocked down LINC00978 in HCC cells to explore its effect on cellular invasion, proliferation, and migration. Finally, we investigated the potential molecular mechanism of LINC00978 by dual Luciferase reporter assay, FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) and RIP (RNA immunoprecipitation). LINC00978 expression was remarkably increased in HCC. A high level of LINC00978 was associated with poor prognosis of HCC. Additionally, LINC00978 silencing could repress the growth and metastasis of HCC cells. Mechanistically, it was revealed that LINC00978 could sponge microRNA-125b-5p and identified SOX12 (SRY-Box Transcription Factor 12) as a direct target gene of microRNA-125b-5p. More importantly, the suppressed effect of LINC00978 silencing on the metastasis and growth of HCC cells could be rescued by miR-125b-5p inhibition and overexpressed SOX12. LINC00978/microRNA-125b-5p/SOX12 axis promoted liver cancer migration, invasion, and proliferation, which could be used as a possible therapeutic target for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.This study explores the feasibility of using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in the pelvic floor region and assesses the water diffusivity of the pubovisceral muscle. Twenty-seven healthy young nulliparous females underwent DKI at 3.0 T that included 15 gradient directions and three b values (0, 750, and 1500 s/mm2 ). The diffusion tensor and diffusion kurtosis metrics values of the pubovisceral muscle were measured after image processing. Two independent sample t-tests, a paired-samples t-test, and a nonparametric hypothesis test were performed as appropriate to compare the differences among different metrics. Twenty-six subjects (mean ± standard deviation age, 25 ± 2 years) were successfully analyzed by measuring the diffusion tensor and diffusion kurtosis metrics of the bilateral pubovisceral muscles. The metrics included mean kurtosis, axial kurtosis, radial kurtosis, fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity. We found no statistically significant differences for these measurement values between the left and right pubovisceral muscles (p = 0.271-0.931). However, radial kurtosis was greater than axial kurtosis in both pubovisceral muscles (p less then 0.001) and axial diffusivity was lower than radial diffusivity in both pubovisceral muscles (p less then 0.001). We deem the application of DKI technology to the pelvic floor region to be feasible.Platelets play important roles in thrombosis, hemostasis, inflammation, and infection. We aimed to evaluate the association between platelet count and its variation trend and prognosis of patient with infectious diseases in intensive care units (ICUs). This retrospective cohort study extracted 4,251 critically ill adult patients with infectious diseases from the eICU Collaborative Research Database, whose platelet counts were measured daily during the first 7 days after admission. In the survivors, platelet counts decreased in the first days after admission, reached a nadir on day 3, and then returned and continued to rise above the admission value. In non-survivors, the platelet counts decreased after admission, without a subsequent upturn. We defined three subgroups according to the nadir platelet counts within 7 days ≤50, 50-130, and ≥130 × 109/L, corresponding to high, intermediate, and low ICU mortality. A decreased platelet count was associated with increased ICU mortality (intermediate vs. low 1.676 [1.